The head coaching position is the most vital job to fill on the staff. That is not up for debate. Everybody knows he is the face of the franchise. He charts the course. However, a head coach is only as good as the staff he’s able to build. One reason Lovie Smith was able to get the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006 was he had a terrific staff on both sides of the ball. This included a future head coach in Ron Rivera.
So whoever ends up replacing Matt Nagy next month, he will face the tough job of finding the right people to help him get this ship pointed in the right direction. The good news is the market should flood with plenty of assistants as other teams go about making changes too. While fired staffs might be looked at as failures, the truth is they almost always have a few diamonds in the rough. Here are some names that could soon be available the Bears absolutely should look to bring in.
Chicago Bears should have options on the assistant market
Edgar Bennett (Raiders WRs coach)
Success has regularly followed Bennett wherever he goes. He was a Super Bowl-winning running back in Green Bay in 1996, then won another as their running backs coach in 2010. Yet his biggest success might be as receivers coach. Since 2011, he has played a pivotal role in the development of names like Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, and Hunter Renfrow. Best of all? He played for the Chicago Bears back in 1998 and 1999.
Joe Cullen (Jaguars defensive coordinator)
There is no denying the situation down in Jacksonville is a mess, but Cullen deserves special mention for making the Jaguars defense not totally suck. It ranks 20th in the NFL. Yet his greatest calling is as a defensive line coach. Players like Brandon Williams, Gerald McCoy, and Calais Campbell have all hard career years under his watch. The best part is he has experience in both 4-3 and 3-4 defensive alignments.
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Rick Dennison (Vikings senior offensive advisor)
Probably one of the most underappreciated assistant coaches in NFL history. As an offensive line coach, he helped four different teams make the playoffs since 2001. This includes a Super Bowl title in 2015. He’s churned out Pro Bowlers with regularity and produced blocking units that as well-rounded as it gets. Able to pound the football on the ground and protect the quarterback. Though 63-years old, his expertise could be invaluable.
Tim Kelly (Texans offensive coordinator)
If there was one coach who personifies the mantra of making “chicken salad out of chicken s**t” it would be Kelly. He somehow got Deshaun Watson over 4,800 passing yards last season despite DeAndre Hopkins getting traded. This year, despite a laughable depth chart, he somehow squeezed an 80.0 passer rating out of his quarterbacks. Better than what Matt Nagy managed with a frankly better lineup in Chicago.
Jason Simmons (Panthers secondary coach)
Carolina is going through a major in-season collapse. That is unfortunate because the work of Simmons hasn’t been appreciated as a result. The man has gotten a lot of positive results out of his secondary, helping to develop guys like Jeremy Chinn and Donte Jackson into studs. He also had success in Green Bay, somehow getting five interceptions from Kevin King in 2019 and unlocking another level of play from Adrian Amos.
